Since the abrupt resignation of Saudi Ambassador to the US Turki Al-Faisal last year, Saudi society has been sitting on edge.
Over the past couple of months, the rumor mill has been running at full speed about the pending announcement of major changes in Saudi law and governance. This was dampened when a Cabinet reshuffle last month didn’t bring any surprises. But as that announcement, made in accordance with a legal schedule, came immediately before the Arab League Summit in Riyadh, supposition was that nothing dramatic would take place until after the Summit was finished.
Now, a new legal schedule is kicking in: the King must give a ’state of the union’ type address to the Shoura Council. Many are anticipating that he will be announcing significant changes. Just what those are, of course, is a matter of guess work. Some think it may forfend an expansion of the powers of the Shoura Council, though perhaps it may only expand it. Others think there may be something new in terms of empowerment of women, something the King is personally interested in accomplishing. There are even some who project an announcement about women’s driving.
We’ll find out tomorrow, I guess…
King to Highlight Strategies in Shoura Address
Raid Qusti, Arab NewsRIYADH, 13 April 2007 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah will deliver a speech at the Shoura Council tomorrow in which he is expected to mention the Kingdom’s internal and external strategies for the coming year.
The President of the Shoura Council Sheikh Saleh Bin-Humaid described the speech to be “constitutional.†He added that it in addition to it reflecting the Kingdom’s strategies, it would also touch on new developments in the Kingdom over the past year.
The president of the council said that according to Shoura laws, the king is required to deliver a speech at the Council every year to clarify the state’s domestic and foreign policies. “There is no doubt that when the king delivers a speech, he wants to address the nation and looks and discusses things from his point,†he told a local daily.
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April:12:2007 - 22:50
This is good news. Although I am troubled by the new wave of crackdown on petitioners, writers, scholars and respected Saudi citizens in the name of “security,” I still have hope that king Abdullah would go ahead and adopt much needed democratic reform.
April:12:2007 - 22:50
There are so many reforms necessary that I’m sure a lot of people will be disappointed. Is human rights more or less important than women’s driving? Is getting drinkable water to Jeddah more or less important that creating new jobs for young Saudis?
The government, in my view, simply cannot fight on all fronts at the same time, particularly when many bureaucrats within the government do not agree with the leadership.